


Variation

by LucastaPastatheShamanRamen



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: #I might add them later as they become more relevant, #I refuse to bow to 'canon', #also Genn and Daelin are bigots and I'm gonna call them on it whoops, #anyhow I love these bamf ladies and they deserve better, #cuz I'm definitely not gonna, #don't read this if you respect arthas, #mother-daughter bonding, #sylvaina au, #there's more secondary characters than that, F/F, Katherine is going to wingman so hard for Jaina it'll be embarassing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-28 09:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17180555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucastaPastatheShamanRamen/pseuds/LucastaPastatheShamanRamen
Summary: Jaina has only one wish for Winter Veil, to take the helm of her own life and chart her own course, following her own guiding stars. That wish has earner her the derision of her brothers and has her parents all but at each other's throats. Daelin is determined that she will marry the irresponsible son of his long-time friend and ally, Terenas Menethil.Following the end of the Second War, Silvermoon seeks to bring the members of the Alliance together for a period of remembrance of the dead and celebration of the living. The noble families of the Alliance are cordially invited to enjoy the hospitality of  all Quel'Thalas has to offer. The Proudmoore's are honored to receive an invitation from the prestigious and venerated Windrunner family, to be hosted by Ranger-General Lireesa and her daughter Sylvanas, decorated hero of the Second War.  Katherine Proudmoore thought to beseech the Windrunner matriarch to consider a match between Jaina and Lirath-respectable enough that even Daelin would have to consider it-until the wild and fierce second daughter of the Windrunner clan enters her sights.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to the Sylvaina Winter Veil Ball collection! Special shout-out to my wonderful wife for kicking my ass into gear to actually write thi, and to UninspiredPoet who is always happy and willing to beat my internal editor unconscious.

     Jaina shivered in the harsh ocean wind and drew her seal-skin cloak tighter around her as she leaned against the ship’s rail near the mainmast. The misted sea spray seeped the cold deeper in her bones than the wind alone ever could have. Even still, she was warmer than she would have been had she remained in her quarters… which were next to the captain’s quarters… which was here her mother and father were currently engaged in a brutal battle of bellows.      

     Whoever’s efforts most resemble a bull lion seal beachmaster shall be declared the winner, Jaina decided, and she prayed to the light with all her might that her mother was the victor. Her entire future could very well be decided by the stamina and endurance of her mother’s vocal chords. Unfortunately, Daelin and Katherine Proudmoore had both spent their entire lives barking orders over raging winds and seas and both had the lung capacity and vocal constitution to keep this up indefinitely.

     Jaine winced at the sound of splintering wood as the door to the captain’s quarters flew open and slammed into the adjacent wall. She turned her head just enough to peek around the edge of her fur-lined hood and see her father stomp his way up to the deck. He paused, a muscle twitching in his clenched jaw as he stared a hole into the back of Jaina’s head.

     Jaina went rigid. Her mind could spin and race all it wanted but she had no context to deduce how the conversation had gone. He stepped toward her. Her breath caught in her throat, warring against the bile rising from her stomach. He made to take another step, but a slender hand, every bit as calloused and strong as Daelin’s own, wrapped around his bicep and stopped him in his tracks.

     The Lord-Admiral knew better than to ignore or try to shake his wife’s grip, she was his equal in every way, even aboard his own ship. He gnashed his teeth, but after a heart-stopping moment of hesitation turned in the direction Katherine pulled him. He stomped up the stairs to the quarterdeck, likely to relieve the helmsman and spend the rest of the voyage staring resolutely at the horizon and ignoring any and all attempts at communication. It was his manly way of throwing a temper tantrum when he didn’t get his way.

     The young mage’s entire body sagged against the ship’s rail in the most profound relief she had felt in her some twenty-odd years of life. She turned and threw herself into her mother’s arms as soon as Katherine was within reach. She couldn’t even bring herself to be ashamed of the tears that soaked into the shoulder of her mother’s overcoat.

     Katherine rested her cheek on the crown of her daughter’s hair and held her tightly, rocking gently side to side to the swells of the mighty sea beneath their feet. This moment is what made the months of arguments, lonely meals, and cold beds worth it, how she knew she’d made the right decision to honor her daughter’s wishes and buck tradition. Her sons had taken their father’s side, much to her disappointment and irritation. As far as she concerned, Derek and Tandred owed Jaina restitution, Derek most especially. Jaina had been crushed by his sycophantic support of their father’s crusade, had almost lost her resolve and caved. Katherine could not be more proud of her only daughter, staying her course no matter the squalls.

     She almost couldn’t make out the words between muffled sobs, but the wind carried the sweetest words of her life to her ears, _thank you mama_.

 


	2. Before the Storm

Chapter 1

 

Jaina woke sore, sweaty, and marginally uncomfortable. Her limbs lay pretzeled awkwardly and her reddened face was pressed against the bulkhead for the seventh morning in a row. Katherine Proudmoore had many dignified traits, but among her less dignified ones were the fact that she hogged the bed and radiated heat like a fire elemental. Sharing a bunk with her mother had been much easier when Jaina had been younger and not yet nearly six feet tall, a smidgen taller than Katherine herself.

The young mage nearly allowed herself a moment of irritation, but guilt chased the urge away before it could truly manifest. The only reason her mother was in her stateroom instead of sharing the Admiral’s quarters was because she had stood her ground against her husband and declared under no uncertain terms that her daughter would not be forced into an arranged marriage with a bratty, undisciplined, and utterly irresponsible half-trained paladin merely because he was the son of Terenas Menethil. Daelin’s argument that the match was owed to Terenas after a lifetime of friendship and political and military alliance was quickly countered by Katherine’s pointing out that an even more honorable match would have been to promise the Proudmoore family’s second son and heir to Menethil’s daughter, Calia. This prompted a reluctant admission that the marriage had been Arthas’ request, one that Terenas had merely seen no reason to deny his son… and the altercation had devolved in civility from there.

No physical blows had been traded, but words had obviously been said that had cut deeper than the blade of a saber between husband and wife. Katherine had not so much as looked at her husband for the remainder of that first day and had only gone to their shared quarters long enough to collect sleeping clothes before showing herself into Jaina’s room.

Each night as the pair settled in to sleep Jaina had drawn breath to apologize, to give herself up and agree to marry Arthas, anything to seal the fissure growing between the members of her family, but each time Katherine had hushed her none too gently and rolled over with a gruff ‘Good night’. Each morning Jaina woke to find herself in this exact position as she found herself now, stuck like that until her mother roused herself and heaved herself off the bunk to begin her morning ablutions.

Almost like clockwork Katherine began to stir, groaning softly and trying to stretch some semblance of flexibility into her aging and stiffening body. Mornings at sea were growing rougher for the Admiral’s wife by the year, loathe as Jaina knew her mother was to admit it. It was taking her longer in the mornings to rouse herself and longer still to get her aching body to comport itself as the body of a poised and dignified naval officer. Her mother would probably rather throw herself overboard than slouch or otherwise appear slovenly before of her crew. Jaina had to wait to untangle herself for another long agonizing moment until her mother found the will to put her bare feet on the freezing cold wooden floor of the cabin.

“The older I get,” Katherine grumbled as she stood, “the more I appreciate having a manor and servants to attend my hearth and the less I appreciate winter mornings spent at sea.”

“And to think, you’ll be three weeks older for the return journey.” Jaina groaned as she rolled onto her back and tried to stretch her abused limbs. “And I think some on Kul Tiras would have you tried and hung for treason if they heard you say such a thing.”

“As long as they let me enjoy a nice cup of tea first, I might be amenable.” Katherine didn’t even bother to change out of her sleeping shirt, instead pulling her chosen attire for the day on over her sleeping clothes to add an extra layer of protection between herself and the harsh winter chill.

“You know, I could have opened a portal for us and taken us directly to Silvermoon.”

“There will never be a day when a Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras prioritized comfort over tradition to make an official state visit. You know better than that Jaina.” The chastisement was delivered gently but firmly and Jaina accepted it graciously. She would me mindful of the fact that the convenience and expedience offered her by her magic perhaps did not have a place in every aspect of her life.

The women finished dressing in silence and made their way to the galley for a hearty breakfast of steaming hot bowls of porridge and an assortment of sliced fruits, cheeses, and cured meats. There was a carafe of strong, black coffee sitting on the mess table next to a tin pitcher of water that Katherine helped herself to, but as much as Jaina desired the additional warmth she knew that the lingering bitterness of the drink itself wasn’t worth the momentary comfort drinking it would bring her.

Jaina was nearly finished with her bowl of porridge when Tandred and Derek made their appearances. The brothers nodded a polite ‘Good morning’ to their mother, but only the younger of the two, Tandred, spared a glance for Jaina. It stung, but it was more acknowledgment than she’d gotten the rest of the voyage so perhaps she should feel encouraged. She might have done, too, if they hadn’t conspicuously taken their loaded breakfast places to the other table in the galley with Derek sitting with his back to his mother and sister.

Progress or not, the encounter still robbed Jaina of the remainder of her appetite and she excused herself from the table, leaving Katherine to glare reproachfully at her grown sons acting like they had regressed twenty years in maturity. Jaina meandered up to the deck and up to the prow of the ship where she had taken to spending her days, watching the horizon and allowing her thoughts to wander. She folded her arms on the ship’s rail and rested her chin on them, not caring how atrocious her posture had to be to allow her to do so. She cared for things like posture and etiquette for the most part, but her prolonged melancholy had left her with little enough mental energy to comport herself.

 _I should have stayed in Dalaran_ , she lamented to herself for the hundredth time that voyage. She could have kept to her studies for another week and made an appearance with the rest of the Kirin Tor’s delegation, which had been invited to attend the festivities in Silvermoon with the nations of the Alliance of Lordaeron. She could have been with people who appreciated and respected her independence, where she wasn’t a title, she was a person, just Jaina, mage in training and apprentice to Antonidas. A fierce pang of loneliness squeezed her chest painfully, not letting go until there were tears in her eyes threatening to fall. She doubted anyone would come close enough to her to see that the droplets collecting on the burnished wood rail weren’t from sea spray at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters will get longer from here on out as the story really gets rolling! Thank you for reading :)


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